The invention relates to a disposable shopping cart seat liner. More particularly, the invention relates to a liner which is placed in a shopping seat before placing a child in the seat, to protect the food from fecal matter from the child.
For decades, shopping carts have had a seat near the handle. The seat provides considerable convenience for parents as they shopxe2x80x94allowing them to keep their child immediately in front of them while wheeling the cart down the store aisles.
In recent years, numerous diseases have come to light which are directly associated with, and are spread through fecal matter. Health organizations have focused considerable effort from avoiding contamination of food with fecal matter. Various steps along the food distribution chain have been scrutinized by health officials in an attempt to locate potential vulnerabilities and immediately put safeguards in place to help avoid contamination.
One step along the food distribution chain that has been largely ignored, is the possibility of food contamination in the shopping cart itself. In fact, the presence of a young child in close proximity with the food within the cart creates a significant possibility of contamination. Further since many children may be seated in the same cart in a short period of time, and shopping carts are not often cleaned, contaminants can easily accumulate.
In the past, some have proposed shopping cart seat lining devices. Most of these are for the purpose of increasing the comfort or safety of the child. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,250 to Reyes, U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,165 to Kucharczyk et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,695 to Salzman disclose large, cumbersome, child seats which have restraints and or cushions, but do not effectively shield the cart from contamination. Further, since these devices are intended for multiple uses, and perhaps even for use by many different children, the possibility of food contamination is increased.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,417 to Cohen-Fyffe discloses a shopping cart seat cover which is made of a soft material, and is designed to conform to and fold over the front, rear, and sides of the seat through flaps which extend from a common bottom. Because of this configuration, which is essentially open along the edges between the flaps, it cannot prevent food contamination. Further because it is designed for multiple uses, it can further increase the risk of contamination.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,732 to Lucree discloses an anti-bacterial baby seat. Lucree describes the problem of the presence of bacteria in a shopping cart from a prior child who might contaminate the cart, but then seeks to protect only the childxe2x80x94not the food in the cart.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.
It is an object of the invention to provide a shopping cart seat liner which allows a child to be comfortably seated within the shopping cart seat, while protecting the cart and food contained therein from the possibility of fecal matter contamination. Accordingly, the seat surrounds the child on four sides to effectively shield the cart from bacteria or contaminants present on the child.
It is another object of the invention to provide a shopping cart seat liner which is disposable so that it cannot itself become a carrier of bacteria. Accordingly, the seat liner is as inexpensive to manufacture as a shopping bag.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a shopping cart seat liner which is easy and convenient to use. Accordingly, the shopping cart seat liner remains compactly folded prior to use. At the time of use, the shopping cart seat liner is unfolded in a similar manner that a shopping bag is unfolded, and simply placed within the shopping cart seat. As child is placed within the seat liner, the child""s legs extend through the pre-scored leg cutouts.
The invention is a shopping cart seat liner, for use in protecting a shopping cart and its contents from contamination from a child seated therein, comprising a bottom panel, a front panel, a rear panel, and a pair of side panels. The bottom panel, front panel, rear panel, and side panels are attached to create a vessel which is open at a top lip for allowing the child to be seated therein, and which is capable of folding flat prior to use. Leg cutouts are prescored on the front panel to create leg openings which allow the child""s legs to extend outward from the seat liner therethrough.